The present invention relates to the art of material handling and more particularly to a device for transporting and handling a large flat elongated load.
The transportation and handling of a flat elongated load such as a load of building materials made up of sheetrock, plywood, wallboard and other materials of similar shape has always been a difficult and time consuming operation, generally requiring two or more workers. These materials are bulky and heavy and certain individual varities of these materials are relatively fragile and may be easily damaged. It is very often necessary to transport the load through narrow passageways. For example, at the construction site the load of materials will be transported through doors and hallways and between obstacles. The materials will then be placed in a horizontal position for further distribution or for stacking. The load of materials should be as large as possible. A need clearly exists for simple device that will allow one man to transport a large flat elongated load of building materials through narrow passages and then unload it in a simple and expedient manner.
An apparatus for transporting and unloading a flat elongated load is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 101,883 filed Dec. 28, 1970 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,715 to Thurman R. Montgomery, patented Aug. 1, 1972. The load is positioned and secured on an L-shaped frame. Wheels on the bottom of the frame allow the load to easily be transported through narrow passageways. Curved members on the side of the frame allow the frame and material to be placed in a horizontal position and unloaded by tipping the frame onto the curved members. Although this system has proven to be very effective in transporting and handling flat elongated loads certain difficulties were encountered with the apparatus.
A certain amount of difficulty has been encountered with this apparatus in tipping the frame and load over onto the curved members. An individual would push on the side opposite from the curved members to tip the frame and load onto the curved members. If the apparatus was constructed so that it could be easily tipped over it was not as stable as desirable when transporting the load from place to place and if the apparatus was constructed so that it was completely stable during transportation a great deal of effort was required to tip the frame and load onto the curved members. The curved members would strike the floor with some impact and on occasion would damage the floor. In addition the frame would rock for a period of time after it was tipped onto the curved members and the frame tended to kick back after the load moved onto the floor. This apparatus would not carry as large of a load as might be desired. Since the load must pass through narrow passages the width of the apparatus and load is limited by the width of the most narrow passage that will be encountered by the apparatus. This is usually a doorway. It will be appreciated that a need clearly exists for a building materials handling apparatus that will carry the largest possible load and will not impact the floor when the load is unloaded.